SPYO Recent Grads
Spring HearHere Issue 2025
The Spartanburg Philharmonic Youth Orchestra is one of the best opportunities in Spartanburg County for high school music students. Founded in 2019, qualified students receive the chance to expand their orchestral experience beyond the classroom with high-quality performances led by enthusiastic, dedicated instructors.
Many of SPYO’s recently graduated members are now furthering their music studies in college while remaining active in the music scene. They are all grateful for their experience with SPYO, and are finding ways to remain involved with orchestral music.
For Foster Neely, that involvement allows him the flexibility to dip his toes into different areas of music while remaining loyal to his first instrument, viola. Foster is a freshman at Furman University, where he is pursuing a degree in music education, although he is considering switching to music performance. One of his favorite things about the Furman music program is its wide range of opportunity, including his participation in the Furman Symphony Orchestra, the Furman String Quartet, and the pit orchestra for the Furman Opera. “I also play jazz guitar, and I’m thinking about joining a jazz ensemble next semester,” Foster adds.
Foster joined SPYO on viola in ninth grade while also enrolling in orchestra class at Spartanburg High School. He became the section leader for viola in tenth grade. Foster remembers SPYO fondly, and is grateful for the program’s lessons on music and life. “Probably one of the coolest things the youth orchestra does is the concerto competition. I auditioned three years and never got it, but it was a really good for me to experience that failure, and see my friends perform. It was inspiring to see my peers be able to do that, even though I didn’t get it.”
Ella Johnson, now a freshman at University of South Carolina, is one of Foster’s friends who performed a concerto with SPYO on bass. “The concerto helped me overcome my nerves onstage,” Ella says, “and the audition process of SPYO definitely helped me with the college audition aspect.” Ella’s experience performing with SPYO prepared her for her first orchestral excerpt class, which holds intense mock auditions each semester. “It is definitely a big deal with different rounds, and you can get cut. The Youth Orchestra helped me become less nervous performing in front of my peers, which is scarier than performing in front of an audience.”
Ella began playing bass with SPYO during her freshman year at Boiling Springs High School, but she is also a percussionist who specializes in steelpan. She plays with the Palmetto Pans at USC, and is planning to specialize in both strings and band education. She’ll be especially busy during her senior year of college, when she will student-teach one semester of each discipline while continuing her college courses.
Some students are maintaining their connection with music while also exploring completely different areas of study. Ezra Anderson, a sophomore at University of Kentucky, is pursuing both a minor in wildlife management and a major in music performance. Ezra’s love for nature manifests in long, exploratory walks. When he is not outside, Ezra is playing violin in his university’s symphony orchestra and opera pit orchestra. So far, he has played in three operas, and he recently joined a contemporary music ensemble.
Ezra began his career in SPYO as the principle second violinist, and eventually moved his way up to concertmaster. He is grateful for SPYO’s exposure to a wide repertoire of classical music: “We were exposed to pieces like Aaron Copeland’s Appalachian Spring, Antonin Dvorak’s Ninth Symphony, and Jean Sibelius’ Finlandia. It was great to have a strong background in a lot of these pieces going into college. I don’t think that would be possible without the enthusiastic leadership we have.”
All three students credit their success to SPYO’s incredible instructors, including symphony conductor Dr. Susie Lalama. “Dr. Lalama does such a great job putting all of her passion into educating us about the background of the pieces, and I feel like that has been reflected in my college experience,” says Ezra. “You get exposed to passionate staff who’ve been doing this forever, yet they still get up every day and find new ways to be excited about music.”
The Spartanburg Philharmonic Youth Orchestra certainly is the kind of organization that will inspire generations of students to get up every day and be excited about music.